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A RESPONSE TO THE D R 




I'KEACHEIJ IN THE 



BARTON SQUARE CHURCH, 



SALEM, 



UN SUNDAY. AUGUST 30. 1863. 



A . M . 11 A S K ELL. 

MINISTKR OF THE CHURCH. 



I»lj»lL,r^ME» BY REQXJTJST. 






SALE M : 

PKIMEl* AT THE OITICE OF SALEM GAZETTE. 
1 863. 




^ 



A RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT. 



A SERMON 

PREACHED IN THE 



BARTON SQUARE CHURCH, 



SALEM, 



ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 1863. 



BY 

A. M. HASKELL, 

MINISTER OF THE CHURCH. 



I»UB3L,ISITjai> BY heqxjx^st, 



SALEM: 

PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OP SALEM GAZETTE. 

1863. 






■•» •*• 



West. Ees. HlBti. 8oc. 



Note.— The foUowing discourse was A\ritten very hurriedly, 
without any thought of publication, as a plain talk to my con- 
gregation, and should be read with that fact in view. 



A. M. H. 



SERMON 



And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of 

HIM ; THY servant WILL OO AND FIGHT WITH THIS PHILISTINE. 

1 5:am'l. xa'ii : 32. 

If we truly believe the cause of our country in 
the present struggle is righteous and just, this is the 
word of encouragement we should give her and send 
to the wasted ranks of our armies, — th}' servants will 
go and fight with this Goliath of rebellion, that 
spurns truth and right, and tramples humanity 
under his feet. 

The deep enthusiasm of the young shepherd, who 
was more than a mere tender of flocks, we should 
have too. We ought every one to feel that the 
issue of the struggle lies with him, that the respon- 
sibility rests on his own shoulders, that his own arm 
shall turn the tide of battle, and God, who is with 
those whose hearts are with his chosen, truth and 
right and humanity, will make the sling-stone in his 
hand mightier than spear and shield and helmet of 
the wicked. 



4 

Most of yon are doubtless aware, that in the late- 
call of the Government for men to serve in the 
army, the lot fell upon me. I propose to accept the 
alternative to go. But as there are other honorable 
ways of answering the summons, I have deemed it 
right and proper to give 3'ou the reasons for my 
course, and for severing, for a time at least, a con- 
nection which has become an exceedingly pleasant 
one to me. 

I might perhaps say all by saying that it is a 
higher call. It is indeed a call of higher authority 
which supersedes the obligation of other contracts 
for service. It is a highei' call, too, in the sense of 
being a summons to more necessary and important 
work, I believe, which I cannot put oft' by preferring 
other engagements, saying I have this work laid out 
or that plan proposed, " I pray thee have me ex- 
cused." More than this, however, I shall esteem it 
a pleasure, if not a duty, under the circumstances, 
to say. 

The progress of the war has defined the powers 
in conflict. It is apparent now what will be the con- 
sequences of partial or entire success on either side. 
Each, as it has gone on, like a conflagration, has 
seized upon everything that would increase the 
flame. The acts and decrees of each show what 



fuel feeds it. It is the conflict of the archangel with 
Satan ; and, as everything depends upon the ulti- 
mate decision, so does much depend upon the energy 
and thoroughness with which it is made. I do not 
fear the right will fail ultimately, but I do very 
much fear that it will not be so supported in the pres- 
ent crisis as to gain the triumph it may and should. 
*' Revolutions," says Victor Hugo, "stop half way." 
The people enter into them with zeal at the outset; 
but they do not understand fully the work they are 
at; the principles they have tried to establish press 
them farther than they had seen, and perhaps to 
unwelcome conclusions ; then comes a halt and a 
retrograde, and they restore the idols they had bro- 
ken in pieces. It is no visionary fear that this will 
be the result in putting down the present rebellion. 
The principles involved in our free institutions, 
w^hich are developed and made practical by the an- 
tagonism in the struggle, are liable to outrun the 
progress of the people in their results That they 
have already outrun many is very evident from the 
opposition their application has received and is still 
receiving. They will not consent to see freedom 
uumanacled, lest with its new sweep it shall invade 
some precincts sacred to them, and force them to 
accept distasteful conclusions. And herein our 



6 

greatest danger lies if we would truly save the 
country, — save it. not merely by disarming the 
rebels, but by securing the success and full fruition 
of the principles of freedom involved. If the crisis 
of this hour is but half met, — if the country now 
shows but a languid interest in its cause, — the rebel- 
lion will live just long enough, not to gain its own 
end, but to defeat our highest, and its roots will 
still live in the soil to spring up into a new growth 
of evils. This danger of stopping with half suc- 
cess is a summons louder than unsuccessful battles. 
The success that should be obtained is, of course, 
the entire triumph of the principles involved in our 
cause over those of the enemy ; which would be the 
triumph of democracy over aristocracy, of freedom 
over slavery, of right and humanity over oppression 
and outrage and wrong. The success already ob- 
tained of these principles, is the Proclamation of 
Emancipation, which yet leaves many hundred thou- 
sand still in slavery, enough to sow the whole conti- 
nent, in a few generations. Secondly, is the employ- 
ment of these freed men for military service, and the 
guaranteeing to them the usages of prisoners of war 
when captured by the enemy. This, so far, looks 
toward universal freedom and equal rights to all 
men in the lawful pursuit of their highest end and 



happiness. But this success is only partial, and 
may recoil to nearly the old status. Those who 
have really obtained their freedom may retain it 
in spite of enactments, but those whom a proclama- 
tion of freedom has not reached, — a proclamation of 
re-enslavement by the ruling of a subsequent power, 
may doom forever to slavery. The present outward 
success of our cause, taken in connection with the 
strength of the enemy and the opposition to the war 
at home, does not enhance the prospects of universal 
liberty and the triumph of justice and humanity. 

There is, therefore, to my mind, a more pressing 
demand upon those who would destroy the rebellion, 
root and branch, to show their spirit and give their 
assistance to the powers that are endeavoring to do 
this work, than there ever has been before. 

For the success of these principles, and the tho- 
rough regeneration of the land, I have ever during 
the war felt most anxiety ; more than for the return 
of outward peace and outward union and prosperity, 
and for this only should I dare to pray. 

The cause I have felt to be just and holy; that 
men were doing God service who engaged in it. I 
have thought I could see results that would warrant 
the most complete self-sacrifice ; a great arena for 
truth and love, for culture and science and art, the 



8 

biilli-day of a higher and glorious civilization. For 
this 1 have exhorted men to be willing to labor and 
suffer as the highest work they could possibly do. 
Self-s:icrifice I have represented as true life. Not 
feeling that we are making it but in self-forgetful- 
ness, serving others in any and every way, I have 
called divine. 

But now the time has come when I am called 
upon to do more than exhort men, in my chosen 
office, to truth, and manly and righteous deeds. The 
truth that I have glorified and urged I am now 
called upon to accept and verify in my own act. 
Feeling the emergency of the time, should I be a 
fit teacher and guide for others if I am not willing 
to shoulder the burden myself? I accept the logic 
that brings me to this conclusion. My country has 
placed me on the same footing with all my fellow- 
citizens, and I cheerfully take my place among them. 
Not compelled to do it in order to be consistent, but 
because I feel and know that self-sacrifice and labor 
of love for truth and humanity is the highest and 
noblest life I can live. 

Before the call I felt that there Avere certain ob- 
jections to my engaging in the war personally. I 
had doubted if I should be justified in the sight of 
heaven for deserting a profession, for which I had 



9 

prepared myself by years of study, which, in its 
true spirit, is a hibor of love for the truth, and of 
self-denial and self-sacrifice for the good of man 
and going, in answer to a patriotic impulse, as well 
as moved by the same love of humanity and truth, 
to engage in a work more openly and palpably in 
their behalf. But the action of the Government, 
which has a right to demand, for its defence and 
support, the services of all the citizens under it, has 
removed that doubt. A choice of duties could not 
justify a different decision. If I remained at home, 
these would call me to the sick room and the house 
of mourning, and make it requisite for me to exhort 
others to purity of life and godliness ; but in the 
army I shall have occasion to do the same. Without 
the call of Government the only point would be, 
whether I could leave this active field for another, 
where I should be no more certain of an opportu- 
nity for useful work ; but that turns the scale. I 
should prefer to labor, believing that I can thus 
best serve my country, though the care and respon- 
sibility would be infinitely greater, where I should 
employ my past preparation and experience ; but I 
by no means limit myself to this, but am ready to 
serve in any other capacity that shall tell toward 
the grand and glorious issue. 



10 

Again, this war is the one truly great and good 
thing that may become incalcuhible in its blessings 
to the world, on this continent at the present time. 
In it are bound up the success of liberty and order, 
morality and religion, and whatever else is neces- 
sary to the progress and elevation of man. Its suc- 
cess will be the triumph of these and the deliverance 
of the whole world ; but the success of the rebellion 
would be the death of civilization and Christianity, 
wherever its influence extended. Is it not then the 
one great and good thing of to-day ? It is God's 
war of light against darkness. I do not put out of 
view its dreadful horrors ; they are immense and 
terrible, but the fire it is leading us through will 
purify us and the land, without which we should die 
that more terrible death than the death of the body. 
When Christianity shall have full sway in the hearts 
of men, evidently not only will war but all conflict 
cease, the antagonism between good and evil disap- 
pear, and the salvation of the world be fully come. 
But until that time the conflict of knowledge with 
ignorance, of civilization with barbarism, and truth 
with error, must last, be it a conflict of ideas or of 
hand-to-hand encounter. 

This is the law of progress that every step shall 
cost struggle and sacrifice. No great attainment 



11 

has ever been gained without them. No great ad- 
vance, no great reformation in government or reli- 
gi(tn has ever come but through Libor and blood. 
This is easily explicable from the nature of human 
beings. Those satisfied with existing institutions or 
specially favored by them will not give them up by 
any persuasion of justice or right, while human 
beings are so selfish as they now are, nor until they 
are compelled to by force. The dissatisfied or op- 
pressed endure as long as they can ; and, when all 
pleadings and arguments fail, resort to force. Thus 
have arisen the bloody revolutions and rebellions of 
history. But the truth and right must be upheld, 
law and order preserved, whether it be in making 
revolutions or putting down rebellions. It would be 
indeed pleasanter to carry them forward peaceably, 
but if their success depends upon means, harsh and 
severe, their true advocates will not turn back. God 
in his own appointed ways disciplines men severely ; 
without any spite towards his children he sends upon 
them manifold evils, flimine, pestilence and earth- 
quakes. So, if by war and its dreadful evils he 
makes progress sometimes only possible, we must 
not falter. 

Am I extravagant or harsh then, in calling this 
war the great and good thing of to-day, in the pos- 



12 

sible results that it encoDipasses ? God means it fur 
good to us, and if we do not receive it so, if we do 
not stretch out our hand and take the blessings, but 
receive only the evils it inflicts, the fault is our own. 
Its most direct result will be, if we will accept it, 
the destruction of human slavery. Of this blight 
and mildew, this sin against God and man, I know 
not how to speak so as to express my conception of 
its appalling wickedness. It is the armed Philistine 
that defies us ; that stalks before our faces and chal- 
lenges us to a combat that we do not want to under- 
take, for it is not with him that w^e wish to contend. 
0, send an army of Davids to the Davids in the 
field, with the inspiration of the Lord upon them, 
and the monster foe will fall. 

I need not recount the horrors of slavery, a thou- 
sand fold worse than the horrors of war. Its debas- 
ing influence only bore legitimate fruit in the black- 
he;irtedness that plotted and began this rebellion. 
The theft of the treasury, the dispersion of the ves- 
sels of war, the robbery of arms and munitions, the 
betraying of the counsels of the Government to 
overthrow it while sworn to protect it, these are all 
its legitimate fruit. Fugitive bands of marauders 
entering towns buried in sleep, shooting down the 
defenceless inhabitants and burning their dwellings 



13 

over their slain bodies, are its legitimate fruit. I 
feel no diflerently toward these assassins than to- 
ward the Indians who massacred the inhabitants on 
our Western frontier, only that, as they are more 
intelligent, they are more depraved and capable of 
greater mischief I could forgive them if they 
would reform, and as the greatest blessing to them 
would be the removal of the cause that has engen- 
dered so fearful barbarity, I would willingly give my 
life to obtain it. To add my labor and suffering 
and life to the thousands already given to wipe out 
the stain of slavery from this land, if blood can 
wash away blood, would be but a willing offering. 
The reason would be sufficient for the act. Slavery 
removed and the way is open to all good. The 
spelling-book and testament shall accompany the pi- 
oneer. The spear will be beaten into the pruning- 
hook and the sword into the plough-share. Liberty 
and love shall dwell together. Peace and righteous- 
ness shall kiss each other. 

I find the reasons then for answering the sum- 
mons of my country as I do, — first, in the present 
condition of affairs which needs the support of all 
the available moral power in the country to ensure 
a whole revolution in the state of society, — not to 
stop with a half revolution, when outward success 



14 

has been achieved or give guarantees to the evil 
that has bred the rebellion. 

Secondly, as my word to others has been that this 
is a holy and just war, and that we should labor 
and suffer and sacrifice in it, the call to me is now 
unequivocal to do this, and verify the truths I urge 
upon others. The call is to go rather than accept 
either of the other conditions, unless I find other 
duties that preclude the possibility or propriety of 
going, and I can find none such. 

Moreover, the war seems to me to be God's war, 
and to encompass the greatest possible blessings to 
the nation and the world, if we will accept them ; 
first in the destruction of slavery as the author of 
all the great wickedness of the time, and secondly 
as opening the way for civilization and morality to 
be improved, and for Christianity to spread abroad. 

In closing I have only to urge upon you the 
truths I have presented, which I believe are suffi- 
cient to justify the course I have taken, and will in- 
spire you in the places you occupy to labor and suf- 
fer and die even for the glorious cause of our 
country. 

I hope it will be our lot to seek truth and right- 
eousness in peace together hereafter, but if God does 



15 

not so will it, lie will bring us at length to his king- 
dom above.'wheve each shall receive the reward of 
bis faithfulness here. 



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